1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to technologies to characterize and unintrusively search the structure and contents of a vehicle, and especially to searching the contents of a closed vehicle trunk or cargo area.
2. Background of the Invention
Vehicles, and especially cars, are often used to transport illegal materials, including but not limited to explosive materials. Often, these materials are transported in a closed trunk area of a car, or in a box or under a tarp in the tailgate area of a station wagon.
Depending on the legal jurisdiction and practical environmental considerations, it may not be allowable or possible to physically search every vehicle by opening the trunk or hatchback to find and deter such transportation. In some situations, the hatches or trunk lids to vehicles carrying explosives have been “booby trapped” such that the explosives will be detonated upon opening the hatch or lid. Failure to preemptively detect such materials, however, can have catastrophic results, including the successful detonation of a car bomb near an entrance to a military base or reserve, police station, government facility, hotel, or entertainment center.
The most common technology currently deployed to search closed vehicle trunks and cargo areas without opening them is to irradiate the vehicle and collect the transmitted radiation or scattered radiation for analysis. This approach has several drawbacks, including expense, health concerns for the operators, and size of the machines.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an unintrusive system and method for searching a closed vehicle trunk or cargo area.